Game of Thrones
by A Hopeful Voice
Summary: Life was a chessboard and she was determined to make it across. She had to save the Doctor-they had to save the Doctor. If this life was a chessboard, she was the Queen and he was the King. It was time to battle for their kingdom. AU. [DoctorRose, DoctorRiver, DoctorClara, AmyRory]


**Short story I've been working on for a while, sort of a different Name of the Doctor, since this is older. Obviously AU, with some things that can't be explained. I wanted to make this sort of psychological and confusing with an Inception-esque ending, and I think I succeeded, if only a bit. I hope you enjoy. Please review.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Game of Thrones**

Rain fell from the dark sky, flashes of lightning illuminating the headstones that littered the ground. Many figures dressed in black stepped carefully over overgrown weeds and roots as they trekked through the grasses to the center of the cemetery-an oft visited grave.

Holding her umbrella, Madame Kovarian looked uncomfortable with the meeting place and situation in general. She sneered at the approaching figures, recognizing their top hats. Of course, she would say that the Great Intelligence copied the style of the Silence, only adding their own spin. This religious order had been around so much longer than even the whispers of the Great Intelligence's existence.

When the man and his followers had reached their final destination, joining the Silence, Madame Kovarian gave a sour grin. "Why this grave in particular?"

Dr. Simeon looked down at the name and rolled his eyes as if the reason was particularly obvious. "Because it is important."

"To bring the fall of the Doctor?"

He smiled. "Of course. Are you prepared to ask the Question?"

Kovarian's grin faltered and slipped completely. She raised a hand to cut him off. "That was not part of the deal. We were only to bring the death of the Doctor and freedom to the universe, but not like that." Electricity crackled at the Silents' fingertips, and the Whispermen bared their teeth with a hiss.

Dr. Simeon only smiled more. "Oh, but how could we resist taking down more of the universe as well? Do not think we do not know the prophecy. We know the Question, and how it will bring your own fall. I look forward to the day we meet again, Madame Kovarian."

"And where will that be?"

"On the Fields of Trenzalore, at the Fall of the Eleventh, when no one can speak falsely or fail to answer-"

The woman in black interrupted, "I know the Prophecy. It is a fable, a fairytale-"

"Like the Pandorica?" The leader of the Great Intelligence gave her a condescending look and said, "We were involved in the creation of that prison. Trenzalore is no fairytale. It is as real as you and I. As real as the Doctor. As real as _Gallifrey_."

"Say no more," Madame Kovarian said, backing up slowly. "We will not be defeated, Simeon. The Silence has many surprises that the Great Intelligence could only dream of."

"Likewise." Simeon tipped his hat and looked down at the grave once more. "Lovely person. Rubbish baker. See you soon, Madame Kovarian." The Great Intelligence vanished.

_Clara Oswin Oswald_

Madame Kovarian read the stone and wrinkled her nose. It was time to return to Demon's Run.

* * *

"Rory!" Amelia Pond cried out, reaching for her husband's hand. Her arms were not quite long enough to stretch, but if she could just get free-every time she looked back at her captor, Amy nearly had a heart attack. Rory's fingers brushed hers, but couldn't take hold.

There was the sound of a sonic gun and Amy screamed, ducking as low as she could. "Come on!" a female voice cried, and Amy looked up, thinking that maybe it was her daughter. No-it was a young woman about their age with brown hair and eyes. She fell another Silent and grabbed Rory's hand. Amy struggled from the grip of the monster holding her but couldn't get free. She felt the electricity beginning to shock her arms, and the woman said, "I'm sorry!" before pressing a button on her vortex manipulator. She disappeared, taking Rory with her.

The sparks grew more than a tingling feeling, and Amy blacked out.

* * *

The three women stared at each other, their positions forming a triangle surrounding the unconscious man on the ground. Bare feet lightly tapping the checkered floor, the first woman took a single step towards the others. The woman with the oldest appearance took a step back in fear.

These women were never supposed to meet. Their union would bring the end of the universe. They were the Guardians of Time, and the beings meant to ensure the continuation of the universe. All dressed in white to signify the purity that they were supposed to keep for all of eternity, the women waited for another to make a move, be it threatening or peaceful.

Carefully raising her hands so as not to cause alarm, the mediator looked between the two polar opposites and said, "It was not meant to be this way."

"Nothing ever is," said the protector of the man in the center.

"Or perhaps this is fate," said the woman who was meant to ensure his death.

The mediator silenced them with a harsh motion of her arms. "Do not question the intentions of fate in front of me. I see all, I know all, I _am_ all. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be. The time lines are unraveling and we must take every precaution to stop them before the universe unravels with time itself."

"How do we know who is right?" asked the woman with the oldest physical appearance, the bringer of death.

"Only time will tell," answered the mediator, eyes flashing gold. "We must let the universe choose her own course, from the destruction of Gallifrey to the death of this man. And above all, we must unite to prevent the collapse of the universe, the falling of the Silence."

The bringer of death began, "But that-"

"Silence," commanded the mediator with a ferocity that would bring Daleks to their knees. "I know your place. It's time you remember mine."

Having remained silent for so long, the keeper of life changed her ways and said, "Where do we start?"

A rare smile settled on the mediator's face. "The beginning." She made a sweeping motion with her arm and the man began to stir. The white and black squares on the floor were cold and ancient: the final battleground. Just as the man lifted his head, there was a flash of gold light and then darkness.

Somewhere in different pasts, the three women woke up.

* * *

Rose Tyler shouted for her mother as the strange aliens in top hats walked closer. They were fast, but elegant. She had never seen anything like them before. She could hear her mother bounding up the stairs, but she wouldn't get here in time. The whispers were getting closer and closer to her mind.

She felt a pull she hadn't felt in a long time as the ghostly white aliens took her arms. Rose had been trained by Torchwood, not to mention the years she spent running, and she wouldn't be taken down easily. Her mum grabbed a baseball bat and started whacking the nearest alien with it, but there wasn't much she could do.

Rose felt herself beginning to lose consciousness, but there was nothing within her power to fight it. The last thing she felt was the chill of the Void.

* * *

The Doctor said his goodbyes to Angie and Artie and promised Clara to come back on a Wednesday, not a specific Wednesday, just a Wednesday. He put in some coordinates and put the TARDIS in flight, ready to go pick up Clara. Out of the corner of his eye (a place he never really liked to look), the Doctor saw something flash across the psychic paper.

Having grabbed his attention, the Doctor examined the paper as a familiar handwriting scribbled across it: _Hello sweetie x_.

The next Wednesday with Clara could wait.

* * *

_Life was a chessboard and she was determined to make it across. She had to save the Doctor-_they_ had to save the Doctor. But she was the only one who could truly save him from the one thing that frightened him. She learned of it-his greatest secret-and feared it herself, until she decided that there was everything in the universe to help him. She tried not to fall in love, but she failed. Sometimes twice a day._

_ If this life was a chessboard, she was the Queen and he was the King. She wasn't _his_ queen however; that was reserved for someone else. Maybe she was a knight in his life, but not in the game. No, she was the Queen and he was the King. It was time to battle for their kingdom._

* * *

He should have known this was a trap. He was so old, and so thick. Raising his hands in the air, the Doctor tried to think of a clever way out of this. "Are we gonna be okay?" asked Clara, raising her arms in the same manner. The Doctor shrugged. "Okay. Note to self: wisps aren't real."

"Well," the Doctor said, "they are _real_, they're just not nice." One of the blue wisps flew in the Doctor's face and started to claw at his eyes. "And very, _very_ good at distractions."

A cool wind blew through the forest and Clara shuddered. Then a male voice from behind them said, "Turn around slowly." It was _supposed_ to be a normal picnic in a Scottish glen, but then things went a bit awry, as usual. Clara and the Doctor turned. She raised an eyebrow out of amusement. The man with the deep, Scottish voice was actually a tiny blue man. "You are trespassing on the grounds of the Ness."

Clara gave a bemused grin. "What, like the Loch Ness Monster?" She knew they were close to the lake, had even fancied going for a dip later. The Doctor gave her a look and she mumbled, "Yeah. Sorry."

"Now you will be sacrificed to the inhabitant of the lake," the man stated dryly. Clara exchanged a nervous look with the Doctor, and tried to ignore that his eyes kept flicking over her shoulder. Maybe it was best if she didn't actually see the Loch Ness Monster, if that was even what he was looking at.

He turned to lead them off, and the Doctor murmured, "Duck." Clara looked at him confusedly, but dropped to the ground as soon as he did. A shot went off and the blue man fell to the ground. The Doctor helped Clara to her feet, then brushed his jacket off and tweaked his bow tie. He smiled at the person over Clara's shoulder and she turned.

"Hello, sweetie," the woman behind Clara said.

"River, Clara, Clara, River," the Doctor said as he gestured between them. The women smiled at each other briefly and then the Doctor returned to business. "What brings you to Scotland, River? Visiting your mother?"

She rolled her eyes. "Even when they did live in this century, you know she never moved back to Scotland. But speaking of my mother, I have reason to believe she's in danger."

Suddenly concerned, the Doctor stepped closer to River. "What do you mean, she's in danger?"

River grinned. "Spoilers." The Doctor looked as though he were about to explode, but River quickly amended, "Go to Demon's Run and see for yourself."

"I can't cross my own time stream!"

"I didn't mean during the Battle of Demon's Run, but if you did, it's already happened, hasn't it? Fixed points and all."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Time can be rewritten, River!"

"And if I've just come from there?" she said cryptically. Clara wasn't sure how she felt about this woman. "Do you trust me, Doctor?"

It seemed a difficult question for the Doctor to answer. After a long time of trying to piece together a coherent sentence, the Doctor said, "Of course I do, River."

She smiled and nodded, pressing a button on the leather strap on her wrist. Clara gasped as River disappeared. "What the hell was that about?" she asked.

The Doctor was somber as he started walking toward the TARDIS. Clara huffed and sprinted to catch up. His pace was quick, his steps loud as he didn't care to look down at what he was stepping on. Clara was glad to see that all of the wisps had left. Hopefully they would be safe in the TARDIS before they came back. As soon as they were safe inside the police box, the Doctor said, "I hate her sometimes."

"So you do know her?" Clara asked, closing the door behind her as the Doctor began to roughhouse with the controls.

"Yes," the Doctor said, a bit sadly. "At least, a long time ago."

"What, like an ex?" She took hold of the railing around the console as the Doctor continued flicking switches and changing gears.

The answer she was not expecting was "Yes."

And it bothered Clara more than she was willing to admit. "So we're going to this Demon thing?"

"Demon's Run," the Doctor corrected. "It's an asteroid and the base of the Silence-a religious order I'd hoped to never see again once I destroyed them. Then again, that was in an aborted timeline so I'm not sure if any of that worked and doubly not sure if my marriage is legal..." He trailed off, muttering to himself.

His words sunk in. "Wait, what?" Clara asked, having just realized he mentioned marriage. She never received an answer, however, because the Doctor set them on course and the flight seemed even more violent than ever before. She was afraid of why this destination was so heartbreaking to him.

* * *

Rory Williams coughed as he bent over to catch his breath. The mystery woman who'd rescued him had pulled out her mobile and was scrolling through it. Once he was able to speak, Rory said, "Where are we? Who are you?"

The woman held up a finger and Rory shut his mouth. She kept looking through her phone and then grinned. "Rory Williams, right?" she asked, looking up at him. When he nodded, she said, "Oswin Oswald, friend of the Doctor."

"Hang on," Rory said, pointing at her and scratching his head, "I know that name. You're the girl from the Dalek Asylum."

"Must be someone else," Oswin said. "Never been in an asylum, me. Name's not even really Oswin; it's just a nickname. But like I said, I'm a friend of the Doctor's, and we've got to help him."

"But you died," Rory stated, trying to figure out why they were standing in the middle of the street and why the street was so empty. Obviously it was nighttime, and definitely not the twenty-first century. But having lived in the mid-twentieth century for the last year, Rory knew that this was earlier than that as well.

Oswin gave him a dead look. "As if you can say anything about dying and coming back to life, Centurion." He looked shocked and she smiled. "I've never met a Dalek, at least not in this life. Maybe that's my future-dying in the Asylum of the Daleks. Still don't think that's where I'll end up, but you never know. Anyway, back to the real problems. The Doctor's in trouble. I've got to take you to some friends of his, and they'll take you to the Doctor."

"What about you?" he asked, following Oswin and watching as she messed with the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist.

She looked back at him without stopping. "I've got some stuff to do, other lives to save. Maybe I'll go find a Dalek. As for you, haven't you met Madame Vastra?"

"Uh, yes," Rory said, pausing as Oswin stopped to knock on a door. After a moment of nothing but some shouting and scuffling from inside the home, the door opened and there stood Strax, the Sontaran butler.

"I've brought the Roman," Oswin said firmly.

"Thank you," Strax said, kind for once. "Out of gratitude, I will not kill you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire."

Oswin saluted Strax with only a hint of a grin, then pressed a button on her Vortex Manipulator and disappeared.

Rory gave a slight wave. The last time he'd seen Strax, the potato-like alien had been dead on an asteroid. "Enter, human scum."

A high female voice from within the house called, "Strax, you ought to be nicer to the guests!"

"I apologize," Strax said. "Enter, Roman scum." Rory rolled his eyes and stepped past the Sontaran, wishing he would find out what was going on soon. He just wanted to see Amy again. Strax led the way down the hall and into a dining area.

Madame Vastra and her wife, Jenny, were already seated at the table. Strax pulled a chair out for Rory, who sat down. He didn't want to refuse Strax's chivalry, no matter how weird it was. "It's wonderful to see you," said the lizard woman.

"How was the trip here?" asked Jenny.

Rory looked between the three others at the table. "It could have been worse. Is the Doctor alright? And why have the Silence taken Amy?"

Strax slammed his hands down on the table. "Silence, girl!"

Vastra sent a glare Strax's way and said, "Patience, Centurion. We must have our conference call with the others. Sleep well." She lit a candle and then everything went black.

* * *

_Who knew a game could hurt so much? Searing, blinding pain, shining gold across a blank expanse of black abyss. She was merely a pawn forced to fight for the king-a slave for the wrong side. Choking on the air she couldn't breathe, she wished she would just die, for death would be better than this hell._

_ Her memories were failing her. She knew she was in love, but that love was fading as the darkness surrounded her. Was it possible to asphyxiate on light? Why couldn't she just die? The burning pressed at her head and squeezed her mind. She felt like a thousand boa constrictors were tightening around her so that she could no longer breathe._

_ Everything hurt. Her mind grew full to the brim and threatened to spill over with the knowledge of all that is, all that was, all that ever could be. And it all revolved around two words: Bad Wolf._

* * *

Psychedelic colors swirled around the room with the elevator music. Rory's head swam and Vastra offered him a cup of tea. He took some as Strax asked, "Who else is coming?" There were two empty chairs.

Vastra grinned. "The women."

All of a sudden, the chair directly across from Rory was filled by a woman with brown hair. She sat up and looked around. "Where am I?"

"Exactly where you were," Jenny explained, "only sleeping."

"Oswin?" Rory asked.

She turned her attention to him and shook her head. "No. I'm Clara."

"But you-"

"This is Rory Williams," Vastra interrupted patiently, pouring a cup of tea for Clara. Jenny passed it to the young woman. "Now we're just waiting for one more."

"Not the one with the big head," Strax whined.

Jenny corrected, "It's called _hair_, Strax." And then the woman in question appeared.

"River!" Rory exclaimed in surprise.

"Hello, father dear," River said, looking around the table and smiling. She looked different than she had the day before, Clara thought. Older, maybe. "Professor River Song," she said to Clara.

"Yes, I know," Clara said. "We met the other day."

"Did we?" River asked, her eyes light with anticipation. "Well, life as a time traveler. At least I have something to look forward to. And you are?"

"Oh, uh, Clara Oswald."

"Pleasure. Now can we please discuss why we're all here?" River took the teacup passed to her and drank it. "I was in the middle of a fascinating conversation with a friend named Dave."

Madame Vastra waved her hand and several images formed. It took a moment for them to clear up, but then the see-through figures became more defined. They moved as she narrated, "Two of the Doctor's closest friends have been kidnapped, one from a different universe. However, they are both on opposing sides of a war. Both sides are determined to bring the death of the Doctor. All of us are aware of the prophecy at Trenzalore-never mind, Clara-and what's at stake. We received a psychic message through a convict: 'The Doctor has a secret, one that he will take to his grave. It is discovered.' And now the Doctor has only us as his army. We must protect him at all costs."

"What can we do?" asked Clara.

Vastra looked at the Doctor's Impossible Girl. "We go to Demon's Run. You must make sure he gets there. The safety of the universe rests on us saving Amelia Williams and Rose Tyler."

Clara gasped and looked to her left. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" asked Jenny.

Clara looked around the room. "I don't know..."

A golden light began to fill the room and whispers were heard in the corners. River stood and shouted, "We need to get out of here. This call has been compromised. We mustn't go to Demon's Run. We have to go straight to the Fields of Trenzalore, or it will be too late. Now wake up!" River poured her tea on Strax's head and slapped Vastra. Jenny disappeared soon after, so Vastra must have woken her up from above. Clara cried out as she felt a poking in her side, but she didn't wake up. River didn't touch her, only looked at the place across the table from them both.

A woman was forming of gold light. River took Clara's hand and pulled her up from her chair. The woman spoke, her voice ringing of youth and age and light and darkness. "You are chosen. We are the Guardians of Time, created to follow the Doctor."

And then their memories were reawakened.

* * *

_She was born to kill the Doctor. She was his Queen, and she had to murder him, had already murdered him, was going to murder him. A slave to her master, Time, and she had to follow Time's orders. Her stolen childhood was ordained by Time itself and a fixed point. There was nothing anyone-much less the Doctor-could do to save her._

_ It was always meant to be this way. Lipstick in a dictator's office, an astronaut on a beach. There was nothing she could do to fight fate. She had to kill him, had been raised to kill him. Who else was she going to fall in love with? At least they'd wed and had their own adventures together by night._

_ Yes, she was meant to be the death of him in this game, but he was going to be the death of her._

* * *

The Doctor thought that nothing could be worse than losing his friends to death or parallel universes or the choice of a more peaceful life. He was wrong. Knowing that his friends had been kidnapped by the two forces who meant to bring the death of him was far, far worse than any death could be. Their lives were to be exchanged for his, and he would go through with it in a heartbeat.

Clara told him that they'd joined for a conference call, telling him of how the Great Intelligence and the Silence found his secret, and he corrected her. They had not discovered his greatest secret; they'd discovered his grave.

"I don't really remember how the call ended," Clara said, carrying two mugs of tea into the living room. The Doctor sat on one of the sofas, rubbing his face with his hands. She thought she saw tears in his eyes. "It's all fuzzy. I remember Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, and this other bloke, and then River came-and she called him her dad. But he looked to be my age-"

The Doctor looked up at her quickly. Startled, he interrupted, "River's father?"

Clara nodded. "And he confused me with someone named Oswin. Thought it was a bit strange, you know, Oswald-for-the-Win, and all that."

Rising to pace the floor, the Doctor muttered to himself, "Rory but not Amy...they heard Oswin at the Dalek Asylum, but didn't know what she looked like...wibbly wobbly, timey wimey...golden light..." And then the Doctor paused, eyes widening as he glanced at the newspaper lying on the coffee table.

Clara followed his line of sight. "That's odd," she said, as he picked up the print. "I could've sworn it was a normal paper this morning." Every line in every article was a repetition of two words. "'Bad Wolf,'" Clara read aloud, looking over the Doctor's shoulder, "what does that mean?"

The Doctor gave an involuntary shudder. "That's not possible...not a coincidence...can't be...impossible," he continued to murmur to himself, completely ignoring Clara.

Finally, she knew that she had to get an answer out of him. "Doctor, what does 'Bad Wolf' mean?"

Time seemed to slow as he turned his head to look at her: his impossible girl. "It means," the Doctor said slowly, "that the end is near."

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her out the door, into the TARDIS. They were going straight to Trenzalore. Damn the universe.

* * *

The landing was rough, the confrontation even rougher. Amy was nowhere to be seen, nor was Rose. River was waiting for him. Neither made any attempt to figure out where they were in time, but simply embraced. Madame Vastra arrived with Jenny and Strax, as well as bringing Rory. The Doctor gave his father-in-law a fierce hug (in manly fashion, of course) before feeling sick at the sights around him.

So this was where he was buried. Time was shifting so that nothing was set in stone for more than a second. There were no fixed points, and everyone had a million timelines that ended in their death here. This was dangerous and uncomfortable.

He wasn't sure when the Silence arrived. He kept forgetting about them, but remembered when Amy appeared. She was shoved toward Rory, and then (after a kiss with her husband) pulled the Doctor into a violent embrace.

Eventually, even Dr. Simeon appeared, his Whispermen shrouding the others in an icy chill. When things began to heat up in golden light, the Doctor knew that his end was coming.

Clara Oswin Oswald was a mystery. She was the Woman Twice Dead, the Impossible Girl. She had saved the Doctor so many times, and was so honest, so wonderful. The Doctor couldn't help but flirt with her.

River Song was an enigma, but one that he'd figured out a long time ago. She was his wife, a child of the TARDIS. He'd seen her die only hours after he first met her, knew all of her secrets. She was always there, he could always hear her, would always see her. And it hurt.

Rose Tyler was so brilliantly human. She was kind, generous, and compassionate. It was impossible not to fall in love with her. But she was gone now, left in a parallel universe with a copy of him. Or so he thought.

She had been taken by the Great Intelligence and forced into the Time Vortex. Her humanity was dead, and she was the Bad Wolf. Rose Tyler was gone.

The sight of her glowing figure frightened the Doctor. He had never wanted to see her like this. Her eyes burned gold and seared his hearts. Anything he had ever felt for her came rushing back and broke his hearts. The Doctor took a step forward and sensed the burning in her mind. She was in pain. There was only one thing he could do.

"Rose Tyler," he said, stepping forward again. Both Clara and River had their eyes set on him, wishing that this wouldn't happen. It was only fair.

"Doctor," Rose sang, her voice ringing with the age of the universe. Then, out of selfish pleasure and not the kindness of his hearts, the Doctor pressed his lips to hers. The kiss burned hot like a sun, and he made no intention of pulling the Vortex from her mind. It was too late for that. She was already dead. The Bad Wolf was sustaining her.

When the Doctor pulled away, Rose held up a hand and beckoned forward Clara and River. The Doctor collapsed, and the world around them seemed to fade away.

The three women stared at each other, their positions forming a triangle surrounding the unconscious Doctor lying on the ground. Feet lightly tapping the checkered floor of Trenzalore, Clara took a single step towards the others. River took a step back in fear, now knowing who and what they all were.

These women were never supposed to meet. Their union would bring the end of the universe. They were the Guardians of Time, and the beings meant to ensure the continuation of the universe. All dressed in white to signify the purity that they were supposed to keep for all of eternity, the women waited for another to make a move, be it threatening or peaceful.

Carefully raising her hands so as not to cause alarm, the Bad Wolf looked between the two polar opposites and said, "It was not meant to be this way."

"Nothing ever is," said Clara, the Woman Born to Save the Doctor.

"Or perhaps this is fate," said River, the Woman Born to Kill the Doctor.

Rose silenced them with a harsh motion of her arms. "Do not question the intentions of fate in front of me. I see all, I know all, I _am_ all. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be. The time lines are unraveling and we must take every precaution to stop them before the universe unravels with time itself."

"How do we know who is right?" asked River.

"Only time will tell," answered the Bad Wolf, eyes flashing gold. "We must let the universe choose her own course, from the destruction of Gallifrey to the death of this man. And above all, we must unite to prevent the collapse of the universe, the falling of the Silence."

River began, "But that-"

"Silence," commanded the Bad Wolf with a ferocity that would bring Daleks to their knees. "I know your place. It's time you remember mine."

Having remained silent for so long, Clara changed her ways and said, "Where do we start?"

A rare smile settled on the Rose's face. "The beginning." She made a sweeping motion with her arm and the man began to stir. The white and black squares on the floor were cold and ancient: the final battleground. Just as the man lifted his head, there was a flash of gold light.

River felt fate turn her against the Doctor. Tears formed in her eyes as she struggled to keep from pulling the blaster from its place at her hip. Clara knew what was happening and turned on River, determined to keep the Doctor safe. Once the Great Intelligence and the Silence realized what was beginning, they began to bring the downfall of the Doctor.

The Question was asked, and the Bad Wolf reached out to destroy the Silence before they could retaliate. River-the only woman who was able to speak the Doctor's name-was knocked to the ground by Clara, knowing that uttering his name would shatter the universe.

After the Silence and Madame Kovarian were annihilated, the Bad Wolf turned to the Great Intelligence and returned them to dust and a memory. All that remained were the friends of the Doctor. But the battle was far from over.

River still felt the universe writing her fate, and she knew she must kill the Doctor. She murmured his name so that no one else could hear it, and the Doctor's tomb opened. Amy looked as if she could never look at her daughter again, and Rory held his wife's hand. A bright light flooded the area and they all shielded their eyes.

Feeling sorrowful and uncontrollable, River approached the Doctor and whispered, "I have to." He knew. "I'm so sorry, my love." She walked to the source of light-the unraveling of time itself-and disappeared into the brightness.

Clara came to the Doctor and said, "She's thrown herself into your time stream, to kill you. It's already happened to you, but I have to save you. I'm sorry." Clara threw her arms around his neck, kissed his cheek, and followed River into the Doctor's life.

And then-

* * *

The Doctor lost.


End file.
